Patrick K.-H. (aka Anton Iakhontov), Russian sound- and video-artist residing in Vienna, and bestbefore (aka Andreas Karaoulanis), Greek video- and visual-artist currently of Berlin, work together since 2010 in video- and adjacent arts.
They collide their graphic–mainly analog but also digital–artworks, electronic and concrete music pieces and algorithms in an ongoing collaboration. Their works apply the biological idea of variation produced though mutations, where the most curious is the appearance of intermediate forms. Animations evolve, revisiting of past procedures to achieve new results. Initial graphic elements transform through juxtapositions with sets of sound / music objects, that act as filters, emphasising the underlying structure and its specific perceptual aspects.
In contrast to studio animation methods, there are no clearly stated “storyboards”, but rather a continual process of “designed evolution”. An evolving material, as we see it, can be one of the most complex, presenting in its texture a summation of articulations and stresses varying both in matter and in form.
Emerged as short film- and installation-oriented art-group, since 2014 they embrace live A/V performances.
Common filmography:
“Decalcophonia” 2011
“genuka > figure series pt / 1” 2011
“figure series pt / 2” 2011
“varroa” 2012
“silicone gifts” 2012
“he sat in a cockroach” 2012
“Monkey-eating Mousie” 2013
“Biene con bienen” 2013
“re-quest” 2013
“chaoskampf” 2014
“suRred” 2014
“Areta” 2014
“Piano Etude Nr.1” 2015
“Piano Etude Nr.2” 2015
“Dbl Trbl” 2016
“chaoßcum” 2016
“Turtle head pick” 2017
“Maldek” 2017
“Trass” 2018
“Skellow” 2019
“Fear not” 2019
“Zvi Aharoni: The Tale of a Lucky Man” 2020
“maXdom EmZ” 2020
Festivals (selected):
Territoria (Sochi, Russia, 2011)
Prepared Environments on Prepared Wednesdays (Moscow, Russia, 2012 / 2017 / 2018)
Reworks (Greece, 2011)
Moscow Biennale for Young Art – (UN)imation (Moscow, Russia, 2012)
DerBloedeDritterMitwoch (Vienna, Austria, 2014 / 2016)
visionXsound:[KV-N] (Neulengbach, Austria, 2014 / 2016)
VisMath – Visuality and Mathematics (Belgrade, Serbia, 2014)
Simultan Festival (Timișoara, Romania, 2014)
Moscow International Short Film Festival “Debuts” (Moscow, Russia, 2014)
Streaming Festival (The Hague, The Netherlands, 2014)
Musicvideoart (Mons-en-Baroeu, France, 2014)
ASIFA – Best Austrian Animation (Vienna, Austria, 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2018 / 2019)
Vitrage Virtuel in Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien (Vienna, Austria, 2015)
Scope Sessions (Berlin, Germany, 2016)
Melbourne International Animation Festival (Melbourne, Australia, 2016 / 2017)
FIVA – Festival Internacional de Videoarte (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2016, 2018)
Transmediale / CTM vorspiel (Berlin, Germany, 2017)
Bit Or Esc (Vienna, Austria, 2017)
The Essence (Vienna, Austria, 2017)
Face to Face (Rostov-On-Don, Russia, 2017)
Mercado de Arte Contemporaneo (Centro Cultural España Córdoba, Argentina, 2017)
La Noche de los Museos (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2017)
MADATAC (Madrid, Spain, 2018, 2019)
Off Borders (Athens, Greece, 2018)
ANIMAFEST (Zagreb, Croatia, 2018)
International Electronic Music Festival (Teheran, Iran, 2018)
Animac – International Animation Film Festival of Catalonia (Lleida, Spain, 2019)
Under_the_Radar (Vienna, Austria, 2019, 2020)
LINOLEUM (Kiev, Ukraine, 2019)
Cairo Video Festival “Medrar” (Egypt, 2019)
Ars Altera (Moscow, Russia / online, 2020)
Prozrenie (Moscow, Russia / online, 2020)
Sound- / video- / visual artist, Patrick K.-H. (aka Anton Iakhontov) collages within the fields of sound installations, live and tape acousmatic and animation, exercising cross fertilisation.
Author of music / video for opera / drama / contemporary dance / post-dramatic theatre plays and performances as well as his own works in Russia, Austria, Germany and USA. He has had his music, video and performances presented in more than 200 festivals and series around the world, holding several international awards. In 2009, he composed sound-scape for Russian pavilion of 53rd international art exhibition la Biennale di Venezia. Head of media research programs of Media-Studio at the New Stage of Alexandrinsky Theatre, Ru. Founder and co-curator of the Floating Sound Gallery (since 2008)–the sole venue for spatial sound in Russia (currently in St.Petersburg), organiser and curator of festivals and educational programs, among them–Russian “ACOUSMONIUM inauguration” (since 2018).
Resides and works in Vienna / St.Petersburg and elsewhere.
Awards:
2011 – LÚMEN_EX 2011 Premios de Arte Digital / Digital Art Awards Universidad de Extremadura, Spain
2012 – Golden Mask, best theatre production (for “Plenilune” performance, Moscow, Ru)
2016 – Best Projection Design at Broadway off Festival (for “Natasha’s Dream” play, Boston, US)
2018 – 1st Place in the Professional Division of the National Opera Association’s Competition (for “The Demon” opera by Anton Rubinstein, Commonwealth Lyric Theatre, Boston, US)
2019 – Golden Mask, best theatre production (for “Optimistic Tragedy” performance, Moscow, Ru)
Andreas Karaoulanis comes from a Computer Science and Animation background. His current work deals with interactive media design and animation. He has present his work in Museum Of London, Moscow, Paris and in various Galleries and spaces around Europe. One of his latest projects is bestbefore, an online interactive showcase blog with hundreds of daily visitors. He is member, along with Antonis Anissegos of the duo “best before unu”, focusing in improvised audio-visual relationship.